Bio

Shane Gardner took over the DC baseball program as the team's 34th head coach in July 2023.

His first season leading the Yellow Jackets in 2024 brought a boost to the program across several metrics, beginning with more than doubling the win total from the previous season. DC also slammed the most home runs as a team since 2002 while improving in nearly every offensive and defensive category. The team also had some signature wins over conference-leading Mount St. Joseph for the first conference win of the year and NAIA national tournament qualifier Indiana Tech. The team also finished strong with wins in 3 of the last 4 contests of the year. Under his leadership, Defiance had two all-conference performers and 16 academic all-conference honorees.

During Coach Gardner's second season, Defiance continued to improve on the field by building up to 15 wins and posted the best offensive and pitching numbers in recent years. The team also excelled also excelled in the classroom once again by setting a program record with 23 academic all-conference student-athletes and earned a third straight ABCA Team Academic Excellence Award.

Prior to Defiance, Gardner has 12 years of head coaching experience at the college level. Gardner spent the last four years at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill. after spending eight seasons at his alma mater, Hiwassee College, in Madisonville, Tenn. Over his head coaching career, he has a cumulative record of 269-291-1 with four appearances in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) World Series and nine postseason berths. He has also mentored four All-Americans, 25 First Team All-Region selections and 10 players that signed pro contracts after their college careers.

Under his leadership at Hiwassee, the Tigers put together five straight 30-win seasons while also reaching the NCCAA World Series four years in a row from 2016-19. In the process, Gardner was named Mideast Regional and Tennessee Baseball Coaches Association College Coach of the Year in 2016 and finished as the Tigers' all-time winningest head coach with a 214-189 mark. He also served as the associate athletic director during his last eight years in Madisonville.

At TIU, he was charged with rebuilding the baseball program and was able to increase the roster by 10 players in just four years leading the Trojans. His first season was short due to the pandemic in 2020 as the Trojans finished 5-11, but went on to record win totals of 14, 17 and 19 to finish his four years with a record of 55-102-1.

The Yellow Jackets skipper has also coached as an assistant at Hiwassee, high school baseball at Loudon High School in Tennessee and for The Yard Baseball Academy's college placement program.

Gardner is a native of Philadelphia, Tenn. and completed his Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies at Hiwassee in 2013. He completed his master's degree in sport management from Missouri Baptist in 2019. He also has one son named Wyatt.

Shane Gardner Head Coaching Record
2012-15 (Hiwasee): 96-113
2016 (Hiwassee): 31-23, NCCAA World Series Qualifier
2017 (Hiwassee): 28-16, NCCAA World Series Qualifier
2018 (Hiwassee): 29-17, NCCAA World Series Qualifier
2019 (Hiwassee): 30-20, NCCAA World Series Qualifier
2020 (Trinity International): 5-11
2021 (Trinity International): 14-28, 6-24 CCAC
2022 (Trinity International): 17-31, 6-24 CCAC
2023 (Trinity International): 19-32-1, 3-23-1 CCAC
2024 (Defiance): 9-28, 4-18 HCAC
2025 (Defiance): 15-35, 5-23 WHAC
Overall Record (14 seasons): 293-354-1
Record at DC (2 seasons): 24-63